Getting to know the US legal market: a quick introduction for junior associates
Since you left law school, you’ll have started to notice more subtle differences in the types of law firms across the market. These differences can have a big impact on your career. As you progress, the types of law firms you focus on can determine which industries you specialize in, what city you settle in, whom your role models are, and whether you go in-house or practice law overseas.
With thousands of firms in the US legal market, it helps to be able to categorize them as you start to make sense of this market you’ve joined. Thankfully, like-minded businesses play copycat in this highly competitive industry. Firms with similar strategies often have similar working cultures and employer offerings.
In this overview of US law firms, we look at the commonalities and differences in law firms and how those traits matter to you, the attorney, when thinking about the employers that may suit you best.
These are the world’s highest grossing, most headline-grabbing law firms. This group gathered momentum from the 90s onwards, following their clients on their path to globalization. Their client base has meant natural dominance in cross-border sectors like energy, project finance, banking, trade, and arbitration.
This group of firms is strategically dynamic, and generally more entrepreneurial than the traditional New York elite. They seek opportunity, are sensitive to growth markets, and are becoming more dominant in areas like tech and life sciences; they’ve also heavily invested in Asia.
The global elite has enjoyed a decade of immense growth driven notably by private equity-dominant transactional practices. They have taken other big economies like London by storm and compete on the global stage with the UK’s magic circle – the five global megafirms headquartered in London.
At firms with an entrepreneurial nature and a commitment to the best quality work, life is demanding, especially because so many deals involve working with other time zones. It takes a certain business-minded, go-getter to thrive there. But once you’re there, these firms will offer some of the best training, invaluable experiences – sometimes overseas – and resumé gold.
Some of the most formidable names in the industry fall into this group, which famously sets associate salary and bonus standards for the rest of the market to follow. They compete very comfortably with the global elite, but without the urge to dominate in every market.
They keep a cohort of the most prestigious corporate and banking clients – think institutional banks, established S&P100 corporations, and governments, rather than the more niche areas of the economy. Enjoying their position at the top of the fees tree, they have no urgent need for dynamic commercial strategies – they just invest in steady leadership, exceptional talent, and a continued pursuit of excellence.
These firms have big M&A, commercial litigation, and banking groups, and often specialize in areas like capital markets, funds, and private equity.
Their commercial conservatism trickles down into a more formal way of life at the firm. Like their clients, these Wall Street firms are more likely to adopt a buttoned-up culture. Since hybrid working became the norm, many in this group have pushed for four days in the office – beyond the market’s typical three days.
Although they call their Manhattan towers home, these firms almost always have a handful of offices across the US and overseas, typically in big financial centers like London, Frankfurt, Milan, Paris, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Sydney. There may be ways to negotiate a secondment or a transfer to these outposts.
These firms offer some of the best training and mentorship in the business, but associates have to square up to the idea that making partner here is no cake-walk. The lucky (or immensely talented) ones who do make it are met with considerable rewards.
By both headcount and global reach, these are the world’s biggest law firms. They sit apart from the global elite because they’re not centrally managed; they are similar to franchises, with less top-down leadership and greater focus on localized independence. They are present in the major global cities, delivering a reliably good quality of service to their local business clients. As global brands they have as much in common with the Big Four accounting firms as they do with other types of law firms.
In each office, these firms can be torn by what tier of the market they’re competing in: the bigger commercial centers these household names often sit in are opposite of the elite firms, while in the smaller cities they act more like regional firms.
With more autonomy office-to-office, there is less of a one-firm, one-culture vibe. But greater autonomy means attorneys generally feel more in charge, and the path to partnership is built through a more organic, visible process.
This group of firms has evolved alongside corporate America. Where their clients grew, they also grew – typically through a succession of mergers. Their client bases aren’t easily categorized: they can range from S&P500 to mid-market companies. Regionally, they find themselves across the table from the global elite’s satellite offices, but often have the edge when localized market knowledge is needed.
Almost all firms have a core of corporate, finance and litigation practices, but outside of New York and DC, more regional practices come to the fore, like real estate and employment.
Teams are more leanly staffed, with a greater partner to associate ratio than you’ll find in the New York and global elites. This means more opportunity to take ownership of the work, to learn quickly, to start originating work, and to establish yourself as a leader in a regional legal market. The path to partnership seems more achievable even as a junior here.
On average this group of firms expects associates to be in the office three days a week, but offers more flexibility where long commutes are part of life. And while all corporate law firms take life seriously, the further you move away from the New York-DC axis, the more the informalities creep into attorney life. The nationwide firms often adjust salaries to be appropriate for the local cost of living.
This group has much in common with the nationwide firms in the caliber of clients they serve, how they staff their teams, and how they compete in the legal market for clients and talent. The main differentiator is their laser focus on being the experts in their local cities. Be it Houston’s energy business, Charlotte’s banking focus, or Palo Alto’s tech industry - every city comes with its own economic character, and no one understands this better than these law firms.
Lawyers famously work very hard wherever they go, but at in a regional firm, you’re more likely to find a work-life balance.
Often founded by a few bold BigLaw partners daring to break free and go it alone, the boutique firm is characterized by its focus on a single practice area. Boutiques are associated with being smaller firms – and that is often the case – but there are no rules to how big or international they can get. The only rule is that they don’t become a full-service firm.
BigLaw-trained partners bringing BigLaw levels of excellence to a more agile team is the winning formula behind the most successful boutiques. So a smaller scale does not mean lower quality. The caliber of the partners and their dedication to a sector means they very often stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the most revered brands in the market. And when you have to compete with a global brand, you also have to hire selectively and offer highly competitive salaries.
There are many perks to life at a boutique. The opportunity to be mentored by some of the most distinguished names in your specialist area is compelling for many associates. Life at these firms can be dynamic, less culturally reserved than at their larger peers, and partnership can feel achievable from day one because the mentoring relationships are tight. They also tend to have a prestigious reputation, even if they are much smaller than the firms their founding partners came from.
Further reading: Is Your Law Firm the Right Fit for Your Career Path?
